Like billions of Indian cricket fans, the bookies too have pegged India to be the favorite for the high-octane Champions trophy summit clash against arch-rivals Pakistan at the Oval, London on Sunday. The Indian government has already shown the red flag for any bilateral cricketing ties with Pakistan until it stops sponsoring cross-border terrorism.
The 2006 ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup was hosted in Sri Lanka in February and the final match was played between Pakistan and India in Colombo, where Sarfraz-led Pakistan team won by 3 wickets, enabling them to become the first back-to-back champions of the tournament.
At the start of the competition, Pakistan found themselves heavily defeated by Team India.
But Arthur, who took charge shortly before last year's tour of England, always believed they could go all the way in this tournament. I mean, whether you have played people before or you haven't, this game, as I said, you can not guarantee a performance.
"After the India game we have bowled with an attacking mindset and that is why we have taken wickets", he said. "People were just doing the normal things that they do in any practice session and that's the kind of approach we have following throughout the tournament".
Pakistan lost to India in their first game only to ride their luck and win against South Africa.
After Pakistan was thrashed by India by 124 runs two weeks ago, coach Mickey Arthur blamed "the magnitude of the occasion" for the fear his side showed.
As cricket enthusiasts all over world are anxiously waiting for the battle, an air of unusual excitement can be felt among young cricketers across the country as they wish the Indian players all the luck for today's match.
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"We've got nothing to lose - the pressure is more on them", the Dawn quoted Azhar as saying.
India suffered a shock loss to Sri Lanka in the group stage before overwhelming Bangladesh in the semis and their captain Virat Kohli has been impressed by Pakistan's resurgence. "We have changed nothing from the day we came here", he added.
Many regarded the semi-final against an in-form England side as a step too far for Sarfraz's men, but once again Pakistan defied expectations, romping to an eight-wicket win, largely thanks to another scintillating bowling display. From the pride point of view you can never forget such games.
Sunday's match up will be the first final between the two sides in a decade, following 2007's nail-biting World Twenty20 final that saw India defeat Pakistan by a mere five runs. So what we've produced after that doesn't come as any surprise because that's how we trained, and that's what we worked at.
"It's just another game of cricket tomorrow, and whatever the result, we have to go forward and play more games after that".
"The difference is exposure, exposure to massive pressure situations", said Arthur.
"We had the mantra "we want to get to London".
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